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High Tide No. 7 Alabama swamps No. 5 Florida 34-7
Posted: Sunday December 05, 1999 09:02 AM
ATLANTA (AP) -- No. 7 Alabama showed Saturday night that its victory in The Swamp was no fluke. The Crimson Tide completely dominated fifth-ranked Florida for a 34-7 victory in the Southeastern Conference championship game, clinching its first title since 1992 by scoring two touchdowns 18 seconds apart in the fourth quarter. The Gators managed only 114 yards in the worst offensive performance of the Steve Spurrier era. Alabama, which defeated Florida in the first SEC championship game seven years ago, likely earned a trip to the Orange Bowl to meet Michigan. Florida will probably have to settle for the Citrus Bowl against Michigan State. "That was a pretty thorough beating they gave us," Spurrier said. "Our offense is about the worst we've ever had at Florida. We're a bad offensive team." Freddie Milons broke loose for an electrifying 77-yard touchdown run with 11:54 remaining, pushing Alabama (10-2) to a 22-7 lead. On Florida's next play from scrimmage, defensive end Reggie Grimes picked off a deflected pass and returned the interception 38 yards for another TD. The 288-pound Grimes tried his version of the "Lambeau Leap" into the end zone stands at the Georgia Dome. Unfortunately, he couldn't jump quite high enough to reach the grasp of delirious Alabama fans, but that was about the only flop for the Crimson Tide on this night. Florida (9-3), on the other hand, suffered its worst defeat since a 62-24 loss to Nebraska in the 1996 Fiesta Bowl. There was nothing fun about the "Fun 'n' Gun" offense, which managed only 114 yards and six first downs in the worst performance since Spurrier arrived on the SEC scene in 1990. The previous low for total yards by a Spurrier-coached team was 194 against Tennessee, way back in his first season. As for first downs, the previous low was 12 in a loss to Florida State a year ago. Alabama snapped the Gators' 30-game winning streak at The Swamp on Oct. 2, winning 40-39 in overtime. The game transformed the Tide's season, which had been marred by personal turmoil surrounding coach Mike DuBose and a shocking loss to Louisiana Tech at Legion Field. Florida yearned for another shot at Alabama, believing the loss was nothing more than a fluke. The Tide proved otherwise, controlling the ball for nearly 40 minutes in a stunning replay of their first victory. "With that kind of adversity, one of two things are going to happen," DuBose said. "You either split up or you come together. We came together." While Alabama dominated throughout, finishing with 300 yards rushing and 462 yards in all, the championship game didn't become a rout until the final quarter. Milons, a receiver who frequently lines up in the backfield, took a snap at the Alabama 23 and ran left, finding nothing but Florida players. He headed the other way, broke a couple of tackles in the backfield, escaped the grasp of Daryl Dixon along the right sideline and ran untouched the rest of the way. Milons finished with 116 yards rushing on six carries and was named MVP. "The play by Freddie Milons was just unbelievable," DuBose said. "He may start at quarterback the next time." Alabama clinched the victory on the next play from scrimmage. Jesse Palmer, who went most of the way at quarterback for Florida, had a pass tipped at the line by Jarret Johnson. The ball fell right in the arms of Grimes, who took off the other way for the clinching touchdown. Shaun Alexander, who had 97 bruising yard on 30 carries, finished off the scoring with a 12-yard touchdown run. Alabama rotated quarterback Andrew Zow and Tyler Watts on every series. Zow completed 10 of 17 passes for 134 yards, while Watts was 3-of-7 for 21 yards. Palmer was 7-of-20 for 80 yards, with three interceptions. Doug Johnson, the starter most of the season, played only one series, failing to complete his two passes. At the end, the Gators put up a white flag by sending in third-stringer Kevin McKinnon, who threw another interception. In all fairness to the quarterbacks, they got no help from the running game. Florida managed only 31 yards on 20 carries and fell dismally short of capturing their sixth SEC title of the 1990s. The Gators had 55 yards on their opening drive, needing only four plays to take a 7-0 lead. Tailback Earnest Graham stunned the Tide by throwing a 3-yard touchdown to Erron Kinney just 1:40 into the game. After that, Florida managed only 59 yards.
"It's surprising that the whole game we could not get anything going," Spurrier said. "It was a poorly coached offense, you've got to say that, too."
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